WillowClan August Monthly Challenge - Clan is Family
by Ninja Cats and Rainbows
Summary: Rated T for mild violence WillowClan August Monthly Challenge "Sometimes, if you just take a step back, you can have a whole new perspective. Sometimes, if you leave, you might even decide to come back. And when you do, everything will be different." Berryfall has lost everyone she's loved. Read to see how this will change her life.


**A/N: So, this is my first challenge for WillowClan! Yay! It's also my first finished work here on FanFcition! It's not the best I've written, forgive me, I wrote this really last minute, like the day of, because I kept changing the plot and my computer decided to shut down and delete my changes. Anyways, here's the prompt we were given.**

**"_Sometimes, if you just take a step back, you can have a whole new perspective. Sometimes, if you leave, you might even decide to come back. And when you do, everything will be different."_**

**Hope you enjoy! Please read and review, I'd love some CC and hopefully make this better!**

"WindClan, attack!" Adderstar yowled the battle cry, and WindClan cats charged at the ThunderClan warriors below. Berryfall ran alongside her sister, Leaftail. They always fought together. They were stronger together.

Through the heat of the battle, Berryfall lost Leaftail. Everywhere she looked she saw cats flying at each other. This was no ordinary battle. It was a blood-bath. She could see several lifeless forms on the ground already.

Suddenly, behind her, she heard a piercing cry of terror. Whipping around she saw a ThunderClan warrior leaning over her sister. He pounced and bit her throat. Berryfall watched with horror, frozen and unable to move, and Leaftail struggled to free herself. She thrashed side to side, but her movements got weaker and weaker until they stopped completely. Berryfall woke up from her trance and ran to the lifeless body of her sister. The sounds of the battle faded. She buried her head into Leaftail's fur.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered dully. "I should have been beside you, protecting you."

In the end, ThunderClan won but Berryfall didn't care. Her heart was shattered. Leaftail was _dead_.

Berryfall lay down next to the cold mass of fur that once was her beloved sister. Leaftail was her littermate, they had trained together, they were warriors together, and they had even been queens at the same time. Now she was gone and her whole life was different. Everything was different. Everything had changed. Nothing was the same.

Berryfall sighed and put her head down onto her paws. Her heart was broken. She was sitting vigil, _again. _And why had her sister died? Because Adderstar decided that WindClan needed more territory, meaning, _ThunderClan_ territory. It's not like they were actually lacking in prey or anything. It was Green-leaf! And But it didn't matter, because the battle had already been fought and she had lost her sister.

It was like _déjà-vu_. In the past season alone she had lost her parents, her mate, her kits, and now her littermate. Their lives wasted, because of Clan rivalries. As the border skirmishes became more and more violent, the deaths increased rapidly. Adderstar was a bloodthirsty leader, and as far as she was concerned, not good enough for crowfood.

Lying there that night, something changed in Berryfall. No, that wasn't right, she had been changing for a while. But this night, the death of her littermate, that was all she could take. She had no one in the Clan now. She had nothing to live for, but herself. Her perspective of Clan life changed. She didn't even want to stay in WindClan anymore. What was the point? All she was doing now, was fighting to stay alive. Adderstar would keep leading WindClan into battles until the day the so-called great leader died.

Berryfall no longer had the same passion, the same drive. It seemed _pointless_ now. When she was younger, she had been full of excitement. She couldn't wait for her first battle. Like every apprentice. But as she reached the stage of a warrior, she had been in too many battles, fighting the same cats for the same stupid reasons. Intrusions, prey-stealing, who _cared_?

Time passed. More battles. Trying not to get hurt. Finding food to stay alive. An aching feeling of loneliness and nothingness at the same time. She was completely and utterly alone. No one could even imagine her grief, her loss. No one could heal her heart. So why was she in WindClan? Better to leave and be a rogue. As a rogue she wouldn't have to deal with the Clan rivalries and be reminded of the battles that had taken away her family and her closest friends.

This was her life now and would be forever until she was an elder. Was this what she had to look forward to? It was nothing, all nothing. She had no life in WindClan. She was going to leave.

A quarter-moon passed. It was the full moon gathering, and Berryfall had stayed behind. It was time to leave. Leave this place that echoed with the cries of her dying family, a place stained with blood.

This was it. For the first time in ages, she _felt _something other than bitter loneliness_._ She felt excited, anxious, maybe even a little nervous. But there was no way she was backing out. _Any_ life would be better than the one she was leading right now. She would be free! Free to do whatever she wanted, free to be herself, free to abstain from fighting. _Freedom._ That's what she wanted, and that's what she was going to get. Never again to have to fight for her life.

_No one will miss me when I'm gone_, she thought. Slipping out of the tunnel, she walked out of Clan territories and never once looked back. Her new life was going to begin.

She walked until she her pads were cracked and swollen. Life as a rogue wasn't all that great. It was starting to become leaf-fall and the days were colder. Prey scarcer. She was hungry, and tired, and starting to feel a bit sick. Back in the Clan, she would be in the medicine cat den with Lilytail treating her. A pang of regret tore through Berryfall, but she shook it away.

_That was then, this is now. And now is the time to hunt_. Following her nose, she raced after a rabbit, only to crash into another cat. She hissed and swiped a paw, ready to fight for her prey.

The cat seemed unimpressed. He was obviously a rogue, and well-fed at that. He sat back on his haunches and opened his mouth, "I'm not interested in fighting. And in the state that you're in, I don't think you are either."

Berryfall considered his words, knowing that she was very weak. She sheathed her claws and stepped back.

The rogue tipped his head and looked at her. "Here, follow me, I'll get you some food."

Normally her instincts would have told her to run, but Berryfall was too tired to care. She needed food and rest. So she padded after the rogue until the reached a grassy clearing. Signaling for her to wait, the rogue disappeared and came back with two mice. He dropped one at her feet.

"Here, this is for you. Oh and by the way, the name's Glider," he meowed.

"I'm Berryfall. And thanks," she replied.

They settled down to eat, not talking.

Berryfall finished quickly. Feeling stronger, she started to groom herself until a loud yowl stopped her mid-lick. She stood up, alarmed.

Glider didn't even look up. He yowled back loudly, then addressed Berryfall.

"It's okay, there are some others who live with me." Just then four more cats appeared, all with prey swinging from their jaws. One raised a questioning glance at Berryfall.

"I offered her a place to rest, she was starving. Her name's Berryfall," Glider explained. The rest shrugged and dropped their prey in a pile. Berryfall noticed and asked Glider about it.

"Well, see, a while back we heard about these groups of cats called Clans. They like live together, help each other, fight and hunt together too! There's even a medicine cat to heal others. We thought that was pretty cool, so we got together and started doing some stuff like that. Those four were a hunting patrol."

"But, why do you want to be like a Clan?" she questioned.

Glider glanced at the other cats then replied. "Because in a Clan, everyone is family. They've all got your back. Isn't that amazing?"

Berryfall's eyes widened. "Yeah, I guess so," she murmured, deep in thought.

She watched as Glider and his friends talked and laughed together. _They might not be related, but they're family. Isn't that amazing?_ Berryfall realized that Glider was right. Clan is family. She got up, said good-bye, and ran home.

Everything was different. Everything had changed. Nothing was the same. She thought, and smiled. It was funny, she had come back, but she got what she wanted. She would never again fight for her life. She would be fighting for her Clanmates lives and to support her family. Her _Clan_ family. And one day, she would meet her deceased loved ones in starclan. But right now, she was going to live life to the fullest. She would fight, to make sure everyone had enough to eat. Every day in WindClan was beautiful and happy. She knew now that they fought in all those battles because of _loyalty. _The battles were fought not for her life, but for the future of _her_ Clan. And she would _always_ fight for that. She was a new cat, loyal to WindClan, and ready for anything.

_Fin._

**A/N: Just a little note,** **I was unsure whether 1 500 was the word limit, or requirement, therefore I made mine just about 1 500. Thanks for reading! Please review :)**


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